Position

Senior Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology, Department of Pharmaceutics & Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research

Areas of Expertise

Microbiology & Biochemistry, Streptomyces Genetics, Natural Products Discovery, Bioinformat

Biography

Dr Long worked in the health service and pharmaceutical industry before pursuing a research career in academia. He obtained his PhD from Clare College and the University of Cambridge in 1999, joining The School of Pharmacy in October 2000 following postdoctoral research at the School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Dr Long is a Visiting Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland; he is also an Honorary Lecturer in Bioinformatics at the University of Zagreb, Croatia and in Genetics at the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. Dr Long is an External Member of the Graduate Faculty at the University of Maine, USA and is a member of the Society for General Microbiology, the American Society of Pharmacognosy and the International Symbiosis Society.

Research Interests “Mechanisms and Process in Biochemical Adaptation”

Dr Long’s research focuses on how biosynthetic pathways have evolved to generate the rich chemical diversity found within living cells by attempting to answer two fundamental questions. Firstly, how have biosynthetic pathways essential for life become adapted to allow the same physiological processes to function across all species? Secondly, what types of molecular processes have led to the evolution of new biosynthetic pathways, offering a selective advantage to the species that possess them? Dr Long’s research is exemplified by studying the molecular biology of natural product biosynthesis in Streptomyces bacteria and during marine invertebrate-microbial symbioses. In studying natural product biosynthesis at the molecular level, Dr Long hopes to gain insight into the chemical ecology of these compounds and to assess their potential for drug discovery.  UK-based research councils, charities and industrial concerns, as well as the EU and other international funding agencies, have all supported research in Dr Long’s multi-disciplinary team, who enjoy access to excellent resources and state-of-the-art facilities. Informal enquiries from interested students and postdoctoral researchers to join the team, as well as early stage partnership in the development of any aspect of the research programme, are welcome.

Major scientific achievements:

• The first finding of genes encoding shikimic acid pathway enzymes in an animal and identification of a previously unsuspected microbial symbiont. The term ‘shared metabolic adaptation’ is proposed. PNAS (2008) 105:2533-2537

• The first structural model for a bacterial aromatic polyketide synthase based on in vivo experimental and computational methods. Chemistry and Biology (2008) 15:1156-1165

• The first report that microbial endosymbionts of marine animals are the true biosynthetic source of biologically active metabolites and the first successful example of the cloning and heterologous expression of a marine natural product for sustainable supply. ChemBiochem (2005) 6:1760-1765

• Elucidation of a common method of chain initiation on modular and aromatic polyketide synthases and description of a new decarboxylase catalytic domain in these enzymes. Nature (1999) 401:502-505

Current Research Funding

•  ‘Effects of trace metal limitation on oxidative stress in zooxanthellae and its role in coral bleaching’.  National Science Foundation (USA) in collaboration with Dr Mark Wells (PI) and Prof J Malcolm Shick University of Maine-Orono, USA; Dr Charles Trick, University of Western Ontario, Canada and Dr Walter C Dunlap, Australian Institute of Marine Science.

•  ‘A proteomic study of cellular redox balance in marine UV-extremophiles as a pharmacomimetic model for anti-aging research and cancer prevention’.  PhD studentship awarded by the School of Pharmacy, in collaboration with Dr Walter C Dunlap, Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Teaching

Dr Long devised the syllabus and leads the teaching of microbiology across the entire MPharm degree programme at The School of Pharmacy; in addition, Dr Long has established a number of MPharm final year elective courses centred on issues of public health, infection control and prudent antibiotic use.

Synergistic activities

Dr Long has delivered 23 invited oral and 30 offered poster presentations at national and international conferences since 1993. Most recently in 2007, Dr Long spoke at the 12th International Marine Natural Products Conference held in Queenstown, New Zealand and was the plenary lecturer at the Japanese Bio-Industry Association 2007 Workshop held in Tokyo. In 2008, Dr Long was an invited speaker at the 49th Annual Conference of Indian Microbiologists held in New Delhi. Dr Long serves on the editorial boards of Phytotherapy Research, Marine Drugs and the Indian Journal of Microbiology.

Some Selected Recent Publications

Bielen, A., Ćetković, H., Long, P. F., Schwab, H., Abramić, M. and Vujaklija, D. (2009) The SGNH-hydrolase of Streptomyces coelicolor has (aryl)-esterase and a true lipase activity. Biochemie 91:390-400

Starcevic, A., Akthar, S., Dunlap, W. C., Shick, J. M., Hranueli, D., Cullum, J. and Long, P. F. (2008)  Enzymes of the shikimic acid pathway encoded in the genome of a basal metazoan, Nematostella vectensis, have a microbial origin.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 105:2533-2537.

Castaldo, G., Zucko, J., Heidelberger, S., Vujaklija, D., Hranueli, D., Cullum,J., Wattana-Amorn, P., Crump, M. P., Crosby, J and Long, P. F. (2008) Proposed arrangement of proteins forming a bacterial type II polyketide synthase. Chemistry and Biology 15:1156-1165.

Wright, S. H., Raab, A., Tabudravu, J. N., Feldman, J., Long, P. F., Battershill, C. N.,Dunlap, W. C., Milne, B. F. and Jaspars, M. (2008) Marine metabolites and metal ion chelation: the intact recovery and identification of an Fe(II) complex in the extract of the ascidian Eudistoma giboviride. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 47:8090-8092.

Starcevic, A., Zucko, J., Simunkovic, J., Long, P. F., Cullum, J. and Hranueli, D. (2008) ClustScan: An integrated program package for the semi-automatic annotation of modular biosynthetic gene clusters and in silico prediction of novel chemical structures. Nucleic Acids Research 36:6882-6892.

To top